To move over a dog?

[Renovationhell]

I literally can’t stand it any more. NDN have a dog with separation anxiety. It howls every second that they leave it. It starts as they drive away and continues till they return. If they go out for tea or whatever I can’t go to bed until they get back, my life is ruled by what time they are in the house.

I live in an old Victorian semi. I love this house and will loose money on it. If I sell tomorrow it’s not finished so I won’t get a good price. I have no money to finish it either so will have to sell as a project. I love the location. But I’m being driven insane and driven from my home by a fucking dog. I’m a dog lover and have dogs myself but this is something else.

Neighbors are sympathetic but can’t do anything to change it. Apparently they have tried many times. They have to leave the house and it does nothing but scream like a posessed wolf until they come back. They know it does it and don’t care.

Soundproofing is too expensive. I have no money and the party wall has 4 shared fireplaces so apparently it will be next to impossible.

So moving is my only option isn’t it? Has anyone else made this decision and regretted it? It’s a young dog so waiting it out isn’t an option I think I’ll have lost my shit by then. 😭

Really think you need to record and play back to them. If they are really dog lovers, it should push them into doing something. As a dog lover yourself, better to try to solve the problem for both you and for the dog. Despite the frustration, it must be heartbreaking for you to hear a dog in distress, which just makes it all the worse. I'm guessing you feel for the dog and are only referring to it as a 'fucking dog' due to being at your wit's end!
You having to move away is extreme and even more distressing for you, given your other dependants. Won't help the dog either.
Please record and approach 🙏

My friends soundproofed their semi and it was a lot of work and expensive but they loved the house and didn’t want to move, it definitely worked.

I've had this happen to me twice now. We moved both times (we like moving around anyway). We did let the owners know both times but nothing came of it. RSPCA can't do anything if the dog has access to food and shelter. I researched environmental health at length and it seems it is a long, drawn out process that takes months for them to do anything, and there is a high chance they will do nothing,
When I was going through this I would search the internet high and low and could never find any threads where people embarked on EH and posted the outcome.

The other option is private prosecution. Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (“the Act”) permits individuals suffering a statutory nuisance (listed at section 79 of the Act) to pursue a private prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court. Generally speaking, irrespective of the outcome, they will not be required to pay the defendant’s costs. Whereas, if the prosecution is successful, the defendant will be required to pay the complainant’s reasonable and properly incurred legal costs. A successful prosecution is also likely to result in the defendant being ordered to pay a fine, compensation of up to £5,000 and, perhaps most significantly for the defendant, a criminal conviction. It is for this reason that service of the notice alone can act as an effective deterrent.

Ultimately the route I chose was to put up, shut up, and move as quickly as possible!

it was a light hearted comment!

Talk to the Environmental Health department of your council- they will get you to fill in a diary of the noise and then they will assess and take action. You could also try the RSPCA they will visit your next door neighbours, assess the level of cruelty, and try to help them resolve the situation. Good luck.

antisocial behaviour noise complaint. They may give you noise recording equipment. Make your NDN’s lives as difficult as they’re making yours otherwise they will never do anything about it. Shame them by involving authorities. Phone RSPCA maybe. The poor dog. But mainly poor you. Not on.

They need to get a reward based trainer in to help train the dog. My dog used to be the same and I followed the advice of a good trainer and he did get better in not too long a time. Now itsa few howls and he settles down until we get home. Only leave him for an hour or so as any longer than four isn't really fair on the dog. Let Environmental Health deal with it. Its your neighbours problem not yours and they will help them sort it. They won't tell them who has complained but the dog must be extremely anxious. Good luck.

Mention to your GP if it's affecting you or making you feel ill. Then report to your local councillor and perhaps a local councillor. Of they live nearby they can be invited to pop by and hear the noise.
Good luck.

This happened to us, however we have one next door that barks incessantly, one two doors up that does the same when the owners leave it and also, across the street and up the banking is a car garage who used to have 4 guard dogs who set each other off each time they saw movement on the street below.

it was horrendous and my husband was driven completely overboard by it - we couldn’t spend time at home in the garden or anything, it was dreadful. He contacted the council regarding the guard dogs and also went up to see the owners of the garage to speak to them. He did this several times, even got them to come into our street to see how disruptive it was.

long story short, all four guard dogs are now gone and the council enforced a notice on them. The next door neighbours, they are now much more mindful as well and take the dog nearly everywhere they go.

It’s a much more pleasant place to live now - I think you need to just take action asap, it makes your life a living hell if not. Hope you get it sorted soon!

I know how you feel. We had this problem, but it seems to have improved over the last year. I think they got rid of one of their dogs. It's still annoying, but it was torture. Sometimes it would start at 2 or 3 a.m.

Rather than record the dog, it's a better idea as pp have said, to invite them round to yours for a coffee to discuss the dog situation. They will then hear for themselves, their own dog going nuts very loudly through the wall. You can then make the point something needs to be done by them very soon. Do not mention that you want to move house because of it, because they will like that idea. Be pleasant but firm - they need to do something.

Poor dog. Can’t be nice for its companion dogs either if it’s making all that noise. The dog is clearly distressed.

if you were to sell, prospective buyers would hear the noise when they view the property and probably make a lowball offer.

You could move home and find yourself with a similar / different neighbour problem. The grass ain’t always greener.

Contact the council, take them to civil court etc. Totally sellfish and uncaring neighbours.

You need to report this to environmental health who will send someone out to assess the noise. Are your neighbours out all day at work? Imagine if you worked nights and were trying to sleep in the day!
You can’t go on like this and why the hell should you move?? Also the poor dog needs help with its separation issues which they clearly aren’t addressing.

Our ndn died the week we moved in. His family call in for an hour every day and bring with them his big ass ddog. Who they then leave there to bark at the window all day. I will be beginning the complaint process via the council when I get back from holiday next week. We have 3 ddogs who absolutely do not harrass anyone...
Have tried to be patient as the poor thing has lost it's owner. But they don't give a shit it is obviously distressed and a fucking nuisance...

Can you dog sit the dog when they’re out at night until you’re in a position to move?

not an ideal solution but at least while you’re home, the dog won’t howl and you won’t feel the need to move without completing your project home, creating financial ruin for yourself.

so toss up between dog sitting (in your home) or financial ruin?

this is presuming you’ve gone the route of official noise complaints and had no luck?

Well since all you’ve basically done about the noise is say hey your dog howls, they’ve said ya unfortunate isn’t it, and you’ve left it at that, and deciding to move with all those animals you have plus 3 kids?
yep. You’re being extremely unreasonable, and somewhat drama queenish.

They need to take that dog with them when they go out.

I’d entice the dog out of their garden and rehome it. I cannot cope with noise and dogs barking would actually make me murderous.

Then the NDN should sound proof. Shouldn’t be at OP’s expense. I’d give the NDN the option of soundproofing or Environmental Health.

Also, totally selfish and uncaring dog owners 🥲

Can your neighbours not soundproof their property since they are the issue?

Poor dog. My dog has SA, he's getting so much better now, but it's a very long training and the principle is to NEVER let a dog get distressed to the point of barking / howling.

Given how your NDN deal with the situation, they clearly don't care and that poor dog will never not be cured.

You should move.